Dean Ammi: You made your home debut against Everton, coming on as a substitute at the Boleyn Ground in front of 30,000 fans. What was it like?
Lee Hodges: It was just unreal really, I just felt like looking around and being a West Ham fan, when I heard them sing I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles it made me go all cold even when I was playing, so it was just a surreal feeling really. Even after five or six times that it happened it still didn’t really sink in, I still feel a bit weird.
Dean Ammi: So you played alongside players such as Frank Lampard and Trevor Sinclair, and although at that time they weren’t the players they went on to be, did it feel like you were surrounded by some of the best footballers in England’s history?
Lee Hodges: Yeah, we had a really good squad to be fair. There was Paulo Di Canio, John Hartson and Paul Kitson, and them lot up top were unbelievable. And then we had Rio Ferdinand coming through the same youth team as me and Lamps, and just underneath us we had Joe Cole coming through. So at that time, we were massive really and it was going to be a strong squad if it could all have been kept together, but it was never meant to be like that.
Dean Ammi: Although you were at the club that you loved as a boy, you wanted to play first team football. And at a top Premier League club like West Ham, this is something that is very hard to achieve. So you took the decision to go to Scunthorpe United, for a fee of £50,000. How hard was it to leave the club you love?
Lee Hodges: To be fair, the manager Harry Redknapp at the time offered me another two year contract, but I turned it down. I asked Harry if I ever had a chance of being a proper regular first team player, and he just said I can’t answer that, which obviously gave me the decision that I didn’t want to be travelling everywhere and not playing. I’d got to about 19 or 20 years old and I wanted to play every week, rather than keep travelling up and down the country being the sixteenth choice or now and again being on the bench and never going on. So, I made the decision to move on really.
Dean Ammi: You also featured in the FA Cup, playing against Arsenal twice in the same round. Do you think the magic of the FA Cup has gone now, or do you think the competition is still the same as it was?
Lee Hodges: I don’t know whether it’s gone. I think in the lower leagues, the build-up of getting to play in a big tie or getting a big club against you is still there. I just think when you get to the quarter-finals or semi-finals, it’s not gone but it’s not what it used to be. I remember sitting as a kid waiting for it to come on at 12 o’clock and watching the whole thing. I don’t think as many kids do that now like how they used to do it. So I’m not too sure it is how it used to be but it’s still one of the biggest competitions in the world.
Dean Ammi: Finally, looking at West Ham now. They have just appointed Slaven Bilic as manager, what should we realistically be aiming for now?
Lee Hodges: Just to stay up still.
Dean Ammi: Really?
Lee Hodges: Yeah, I just think they need to stay up and get in that stadium. We need to make sure that we can fill that stadium every week, and if that means coming fifth from bottom, it’ll have to be fifth from bottom. And then when we get in there, I think we have to push on to the next level and maybe spend more money and take that chance. It could be an unbelievable club if they do that. I just think that if we don’t stay up this year then it could be a very big hole that we are going to struggle to fill.
Dean Ammi: So although West Ham are in the Europa League?
Lee Hodges: That’s what worries me.
Dean Ammi: You think that’s a hindrance?
Lee Hodges: That could be a massive hindrance, yeah. Teams like Tottenham that have spent £100million are struggling to get into the top five or six, which they shouldn’t be. It’s not physically any different, because you could play on a Wednesday and then a Saturday and teams seem to be fine. But you play on a Thursday and then teams can’t play on a Sunday which I don’t get. But I think mentally there is a thing that they think they can’t play and teams are then beaten before they’ve even started. So, I wish we weren’t in it to be honest. It might be a bit of a downer but I just want to get into that stadium.
Dean Ammi: You do get away games to places like Russia and Ukraine!
Lee Hodges: Yeah, I just want to get in that stadium in the Premier League, and then worry about the rest after that!
